In the mid-1800s, New York called it a riot.The newspapers called it disorder.But what happened in Five Points was something far more deliberate. This episode of Deadly Truths with Becca reexamines the Dead Rabbits—not as the violent gang popular culture remembers, but as a group of young Irish immigrants who became targets in a city that had already decided their lives were expendable. Through a cinematic retelling of murder, the 1857 Dead Rabbits Riot, and the political forces that shaped Five Points, we trace how violence was normalized through nativist street gangs, police indifference, and political machines like Tammany Hall. We separate myth from history, dismantle Gangs of New York, and place the Dead Rabbits within a longer pattern of how American cities turn poverty and immigration into permission for bloodshed. This is not a story about chaos.It’s a story about pressure.And who is allowed to die when that pressure breaks. If this episode changed how you think about what a “riot” really is, share it. Follow Deadly Truths with Becca on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube for more episodes of Dead City, where we examine how violence is created, justified, and remembered. Ratings, reviews, and shares help keep these stories visible—especially the ones history worked very hard to bury. DISCLAIMER This episode discusses historical violence, death, and systemic abuse.Descriptions are based on documented accounts from newspapers, court records, and historical scholarship. Where sources conflict or records are incomplete, that uncertainty is noted. This episode is intended for educational and historical analysis, not glorification of violence or gangs. RESOURCES / SOURCES Primary and secondary sources for this episode include: Contemporary New York newspaper archives (1840s–1850s), including The New York Times, New York Tribune, and The Herald Tyler Anbinder, Five Points: The 19th-Century New York City Neighborhood That Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World’s Most Notorious Slum Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York (used critically and cross-checked) New York Municipal Archives (police, court, and inquest records) Library of Congress historical collections Academic research on nativism, political machines, and 19th-century urban policing Understanding the past doesn’t require defending it.Context explains behavior—but it doesn’t absolve power. And remember—the past isn’t dead.It’s just waiting for permission to repeat itself.
